All posts by Patty Huston-Holm

About Patty Huston-Holm

Author, professor, communications consultant in Ohio, USA; and Mukono, Uganda, Africa. View all posts by Patty Huston-Holm →

UCU alum shares child soldier captivity story with USP students

September 14, 2022News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, USPPatty Huston-Holm

LRA survivor Olum Douglas speaking to Uganda Studies Program students at UCU

By Olum Douglas
August 25, 2022, is one extra-ordinary day I shall live to remember. Waking up that Thursday morning, I had a list of activities. From checking on my parents back home in the north via phone, to taking my children to school for a requisite government data collection registration activity, to an online job interview but foremost, an opportunity to share my story with a group of American students.

The Uganda Studies Program (USP) at Uganda Christian University (UCU) had invited me to speak about my child abduction to a 16-member group of students from North America.

Olum Douglas with USP students, (left) Lauren Thrush, Wheaton College (Illinois); and (right) Beth Merritt, George Fox University (Oregon).

In attendance besides the students were USP staff and my good friend, Patricia Huston-Holm, who I insisted attend the session because I needed a shoulder to lean on in case I broke down. It was my first time to speak the story before an audience.

When I first set out to write down my story in 2011, I spent about two hours trying to fill a page on a shorthand book. The painful memories of the brutality, torture, murder and untold suffering weighed so heavily on me, causing me to weep endlessly.

I was putting words on paper for a Creative Writing course as part of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication degree I was pursuing at UCU.

After the 25-page narrative compiled under the title, “No more tears to cry,” I gathered the courage to tell the whole story of what happened to me in my native village of Gulu in northern Uganda. This narrative later became a book titled: “The Captive: My 204 days with the LRA rebels.” The book was published on Amazon in December 2020.

The days, weeks and months of writing were never a smooth sail. Many times, I was drenched in tears and unable to continue writing because the memories of some moments were so refreshed and painful.

Olum Douglas sharing a photo from his book, “The Captive: My 204 days with the LRA rebels.”

On that sunny August 2022 day, I narrated to the students how I was abducted alongside several other children and adults on the night of April 4, 1998, by the Joseph Kony-led Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. I was 11 years old at the time.

I told them how some of my colleagues were tortured and killed while I watched, and how we were forced to do many despicable things. As I spoke, I could see some members of the audience occasionally wipe tears.

Unlike the days I was compiling the story, I stood strong during the presentation and never shed a tear. I told the students that I have now overcome the pain.

It was an honor to be granted the platform to address the students because they are future leaders who may change the trajectory on global peace if they are helped to access the right knowledge and understand the impact of war on local communities, especially in Africa, which is a battleground for ideologies.

Personally, such opportunities help me to self-check whether I am still emotionally attached to the past. As most writers will tell you, getting something out like this is therapeutic. One of the key outcomes of authoring that book is that it helped me discharge much of the pain. And any opportunity to talk about it helps me discharge even further.

During the August session, the students were curious to know whether I take time to reflect and ask myself why that happened to me. They also asked whether all my colleagues have returned home, and what caused the about 20 years of insurgency in northern Uganda.

I answered as best as I could, knowing that later, they would have more questions as I still do.

I am thankful to Rachel Robinson, the USP director, and the entire team for stretching non-Ugandan students to learn and understand my culture, including the painful parts. I also thank my friend and mentor, Patty, for her continuous support along this journey I know I am still on. Overcoming such experiences is not easy, but I am winning.

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Olum Douglas lives in Mukono, Uganda with his wife and two children. Through the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, he is finishing his master’s degree in strategic communication at UCU.

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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UCU students dialogue about African brain drain

September 12, 2022News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Alan Kasujja engages in the recording session of the masterclass podcast with UCU students.

By Kefa Senoga
Brain drain means the depletion of a country’s best and brightest workers who take their knowledge and skill to another country – usually leaving lower wages in a home country for higher wages in another country.

Such was the topic of discussion among Uganda Christian University (UCU) students and facilitators from BBC Africa Daily. The occasion was a recent masterclass podcast session organized by a BBC Africa Daily team consisting of Alan Kasujja, host of Africa Daily; Janet Ball, producer for Africa Daily; and BBC minute presenter Ria Khatab. The main question was: Would you stay, or would you go?

Alan Kasujja gives advice to UCU students.

According to BBC, a new survey of more than 4,500 age 18-24 people in Africa found that 52% are likely to consider emigrating in the next few years, citing economic hardship and education opportunities as the top reasons. Ms. Ball says Ugandan young people are more optimistic about the future in their home country than youth in Kenya and Nigeria.

Kasujja says that one of the most difficult decisions he had to make in life was accepting a job offer in another country. He appeared both amused and conflicted by the answers he got from the young people at UCU regarding why they want to spend the rest of their lives in Uganda or why they want to leave.

Throughout this discussion, the common justifications from these young people on why they want to leave their countries were three-fold: adventure, better paying jobs and better education opportunities.

Alan Kasujja offers some advice to students at UCU

Kenneth Bananuka, a third-year journalism student playing with the UCU basketball team, says that he wants to play professional basketball at the highest level, which is not in Uganda.

Joshua Bamwike, a UCU School of Medicine student, said the pay for medical workers in Uganda is unfavorable. “As medical students, we put in a lot of effort in research and pay high sums of tuition; then at the end of the day, the salaries we are paid are still discussed while in other better countries, it’s not negotiable for medical workers to get a better pay.” He thinks of moving to Canada, if he got the opportunity after his studies.

“How much money do you want?” Kasujja asked.

“Roughly, I would want 30 million Ugshs a month (about $8,000 dollars),” Bamwike replied. According to statistics, monthly poverty in the USA remained elevated in February 2022, with a 14.4 percent poverty rate for the total US population considering the high cost of living.

However, Rukia Micky Nambwayo, also a medical student at UCU looking forward to being a gynecologist, does not agree with those who wish to leave their country to seek greener pastures. Nambwayo says that it is unfair for some doctors to leave their country and go look for jobs elsewhere.

“They should stay and serve their country such that the people in Uganda also get the opportunity of being treated by the best,” she says.

According to Nambwayo, when you decide to offer medical studies, you should not be looking at the money, but rather at the services and help that you are going to offer to people.

Two journalism students – Christiana Ampeire and Timothy Nsubuga – shared the same view of “going to other countries such that they can be able to learn new skills and knowledge and return to apply them in their countries.” Timothy Nsubuga emphasizes that he is “not looking forward to leaving my country and staying in a foreign country for over 100 years.”

Despite the fact that Ampeire is not looking at completely abandoning her country, she agrees that it is not unusual to hear young people lamenting about leaving their country. She says most of her colleagues share the same view with Bamwike that there is no hope in their country and, therefore, they have to find means of leaving.

Ampeire thinks that the government should listen and act against the reasons that bring such kind of desperateness among the youth. “The youth in these professional fields should be catered for more in the national budget and even given more pay to motivate them,” Ampeire says.

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Social Sciences joins forces with USA Nonprofit to help disabled children

September 9, 2022UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

The School of Social Sciences lecturers pose with the team of Promise International at the ICMI building

By Israel Kisakye
In a move to boost Ugandan special needs persons awareness, the School of Social Sciences at Uganda Christian University (UCU) has joined with Promise International, a USA, Non-Governmental Organization focused on advocating for basic human rights in communities.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics Data indicate that around 12%, or 4.5 million, Ugandans have some form of disability. Individuals with such disabilities as deafness and blindness face economic, social and educational disadvantages. Focusing first on the World Bank estimate of 16% of Ugandan special needs children and even narrower on those children in schools, the School of Social Sciences has developed a concept around issues of special needs in the country and possible intervention to be undertaken by UCU and Promise International to improve the group’s rights.

Participants at the School of Social Sciences training

“We all know issues concerning special needs people in Uganda, so we are trying to see how we can play a part in sensitizing the community more about this subject,” said Dr. Jeremy Waiswa, head of the department of research and postgraduate in the School. “This is the first step towards the bigger things in our collaboration in the areas of special needs children. We want to start the collaborations and see the activities we can work on with Promise International.”

Sarah Benevides, an official with the Texas-based Promise International, said that she was excited to be part of the collaboration that is aligned with her organization’s faith-driven mission to advocate and take action related to basic human rights needs for Uganda’s vulnerable.

“We want to increase the awareness of special needs as well as provide some roots and support on how we can move on with the children with various disabilities,” Benevides said. “We can strengthen courage in this university by telling people how God has created all of us.”

Sarah Benevides of Promise International talks about purpose of the collaboration

Daniel Tulibagenyi, a UCU alum and lecturer who is a founder and president working with Promise International, said it was “humbling” to be part of the group establishing a partnership with his former university.

Sarah Benevides, one of the Promise International presenters, talks to the group

“We want to establish the collaboration and start training and engaging students to be able to enhance the community outreach of UCU in areas of special needs children,” Tulibagenyi said. He added that the partnership engages the non-profit and the university in research and community action.

According to the Ministry of Education and Sports (2017) some 9,597 pupils enrolled in pre-primary schools (1.6%) have impairments. The majority were children with mental impairments (28%), followed by hearing impairments (25%), visual impairments (16%), autism (5%) and multiple handicaps-deaf and blind (4%). There are 172,864 children with special needs in primary schools which is 2% of total primary enrollment and 9% of the overall children with special needs.

The UCU School of Social Sciences students believe that the training exposed them to more knowledge about the neglect of special needs children

“This training has given me more highlights on people living with disabilities, and I have gotten to know that they are left out in their societies and their rights are usually trampled on,” said Calvin Amanya, member of parliament, School of Social Sciences.

Other students thanked the school for the initiative.

“The training has shed more light on what social science is about and what I’m supposed to do in my community,” Kevin Dusebe, a year-one student pursuing Social works and Social Administration, said.

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UCU student’s jewellery creations yield national award

September 7, 2022News, Students, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

Rosemary Ndyemanya Marion (centre) receives a dummy cheque for her prize money.

By Vanessa Kyalimpa
Making jewellery started out as a pastime for Rosemary Ndyemanya Marion. As a young girl, she learned the activity by helping her mother make necklaces and earrings, which she sold to supplement her monthly salary.

During her Senior Six holidays, she took the activity a notch higher, by starting to make her own jewellery for sale.

“I often went to town with my mother, to buy the beads and threads and all the other products she needed for her jewellery business,” she narrates.

On one of the trips, Ndyemanya asked her mother for money so she could also buy what she would use to make her own products.

“She gave me sh5,000 (about $1.5) and that’s how I started,” said Ndyemanya, a student of Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance in the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Business. She is in second year of her study at UCU.

Some of the excitement as Stanbic bank announces the winner

When Ndyemanya sensed that she had learned enough about making jewellery and was able to fly alone, she started a company, Anya Wrist. The year was 2021.

With the business, she has been able to make money. For instance, she says there are months she earns up to sh900,000 ($237) in sales. It is not just the money she is reaping from the business. In July, Ndyemanya won a business start-up challenge in the National Schools Championships that was organised by Stanbic Bank in Uganda. The competition attracted participants from 100 schools.

One of the products that Ndyemanya makes

The award, in a competition where her pitch was the Anya Wrist business, saw her walk home with a prize of sh5million (about $1,300). At the awards gala, a short profile of Ndyemanya’s pitch wowed the event’s chief guest, Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament. In addition to the sh5million, Tayebwa also gave Ndyemanya another sh1million (about $260).

The competition, in its seventh year, was held under the theme “Empowering Job Creators of Tomorrow.” Upon the selection of the applicants in March, they were taken for a boot camp in April, where Ndyemanya learned valuable lessons, which she believes will be able to make her business grow. The knowledge and skills provided were in the areas of how to grow the business, sell and market products and use the numerous opportunities that social media offers to close the physical gap between the producer and the customer.

“I’m not from a financially stable family,” Ndyemanya said. “My mum is a primary school teacher and my dad is a reverend. In order to make ends meet, my mom would make crafts, soap and wine for sale at church after service.” Ndyemanya thanks God for the opportunity that the Stanbic Bank entrepreneurship challenge offered her.

Just like any student running a business, Ndyemanya is not short of obstacles. “When I’m in school, I find it hard to balance both academics and work, so I find myself having to leave out some orders that need delivery in distant places so I can attend my classes,” she said, noting that she has extra roles as a student leader. At school, Ndyemanya is the student custodian of her hall of residence.

“During my holidays, though, I give my all to the business, making up for any losses during the semester.”

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UCU agriculture participates in dialogue on food safety in Uganda

September 5, 2022Faculty of Agricultural SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Fred Muwema, Director for Legal and Corporate Affairs at Anti-Counterfeit Network, speaking during the dialogue alongside other officials

By Israel Kisakye
In a country where 76% (World Bank, 2019) of the population lives in rural areas, where harsh droughts and damaging floods have diminished crops, causing starvation and death in some northern areas (Karajoma, 2022), dialogue about what is best for the land in that country – Uganda – is important. Action from that conversation is critical.

Aligned with a goal to serve the community surrounding it, Uganda Christian University (UCU) is front and center in this discussion. One example is the UCU Faculty of Agricultural Sciences moderation of a June 30, 2022, national dialogue on the status of the agrochemical sector in Uganda. Held at the Silver Springs Hotel in the Kampala suburban neighborhood of Bugolobi, the topic was Innovation for Improved Management of Agrochemicals for Better Agriculture, Food Safety and Trade in Uganda.

Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba, dean, UCU Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba, dean, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, said the discourse was organized by CropLife Uganda to help improve the internal processes and systems of agricultural production in Uganda. CropLife Uganda is a national membership association of manufacturers, importers and distributors of Crop Protection Products and a leading advocate for the plant science industry in the country.

Dr. Bulyaba observed that when damaging pesticides and fertilizers get into the environment, they affect the community and crop productivity.

“If farmers use inputs that are not proper, they also affect their yields and that is a call to all of us to respond to the issues of food insecurity,” she said.

Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba, UCU Faculty of Agricultural Sciences dean, talks about food safety.

Dr. Bulyaba added that agrochemical study exposes a number of grey areas that need further research. “One such area is lack of statistics on how much agrochemicals are in our food and how they are affecting our bodies,” she said.

In the same vein, Solomon Seruwo, an associate of the agro-chemical distributing company, Bukoola Chemical Industries, and chairman of CropLife Uganda, advised all those in the private sector to be united with passion to improve the level of agricultural production in Uganda.

“Food safety is critical in Uganda like elsewhere,” Sseruwu said. “In Uganda, agriculture contributes 24% of the GDP; 54% of the exports; 70% of the employment and 40% raw materials.”

Sseruwu observed that the country cannot be safe if food safety is not prioritized.

The participants also discussed the legal frameworks providing guidelines of reducing risks associated with pesticides and to improve trade and agriculture. Some of the guidelines included harmonizing the East African Community (EAC) guidelines for the conduct and reporting of efficacy trials. The participants urged all stakeholders to harmonize the EAC guidelines for data requirements for registration of pest control products.

“At the regional level of EAC, a number of guidelines have been developed and the aim of their development is to reduce risks associated with pesticides, improving trade, safeguarding crops, environmental, human and animal health,” said Christabel Tumwebaze, a representative of the Feed the Future organization working to end global hunger.

Paul Mwambu, a Ugandan commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture, animal industry and fisheries noted that there is need to fast track the regional harmonization process for pesticides if the region is to ensure timely access to safe and effective pesticides at reduced cost and an incentive for manufacturers.

In the background of the agrochemical discussion and understanding of how climate change is impacting the health and safety of East African people are data about human impacts. In a brief to Parliament on July 14, the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Esther Anyakun Davinia, said that 517,800 people representing 41% of the population in Karamoja sub-region had been at the risk of food shortage between March and July. Some people in Karamoja and Lango have died due to lack of food.

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Health Awareness week focuses on mental wellness

September 2, 2022News, Students, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Students at the blood donation tent during the health awareness week

By Vanessa Kyalimpa
First, it was an issue only talked about in hushed tones. Then, the rate of drug abuse increased among students and youth, bringing dialog to the public domain.

Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Trinity Semester (May-August) Health Awareness Week was part of that domain with the issue of mental wellness and drug abuse fast growing among youth in open discussion.

UCU Guild President Racheal Sserwadda Mirembe said they discovered that there were cartels in Mukono that supply youth and students with drugs, leading to substance abuse. The revelation by Mirembe is not surprising. In March 2022, the Police said at least 16 percent of the youth in urban centers in Uganda are under the influence of drugs.

Tinka Zarugaba, the head of Uganda Police’s anti-narcotics department, said abuse of drugs, such as cannabis, heroin and cocaine, was on the rise, especially in urban areas, greatly affecting the youth. Zarugaba’s remarks were made in March 2022, at a function where close to 50kg of narcotic drug exhibits estimated to be over sh770million (about $200,000) were burned in Kampala.

A police officer, right, at the health camp

In June, police arrested four people who were accused of selling drug-laced cookies to students of one of the elite secondary schools in Uganda. The Police said the “drug-bust was carried out after the secondary school suspended 10 students who ordered drug-laced cookies, which they consumed at a school party.”

At the Uganda Christian University Health Awareness Week held in July 2022 at the UCU Guild Grounds, the institution’s students were joined by those from other universities – Makerere, Kyambogo and Makerere Business School.

The campaign, which ran under the theme Say No to Drug and Substance Abuse, was part of the Health Awareness week that is dedicated to providing a general understanding and knowledge about health, health care and its services, health needs, diseases and preventive measures.

It is held every semester and organized by Allan Galpin, UCU’s health center, in conjunction with the UCU Guild Government and the counseling department at UCU, the Ruth Nkoyoyo Wellness Center.

Other health services, such as blood screening and donation, free dental screening and optical screening, were offered at the health week.

Listen to the band advocating against drug abuse

Olivia Kamusiime, a year-three student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication, thanked the university and the student leaders for the initiative of the health week. She said that so many students face challenges, which could lead them into abusing drugs, but that with campaigns like those held at the health week, she is optimistic a positive change will be registered.

Josephine Achol, a second-year student pursuing Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management, said that she got free eye screening services and realized she had had an underlying eye problem she did not know about.

Ruth Igiraneza, a student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication, said through the health camp, she was able to know her HIV status, as well as get her eyes checked. She said the extension of the health awareness week activities into the Thursday community worship hour enabled her to know the dangers of self-medication.

“For instance,” Igiraneza said: “I did not know paracetamol (also known as the acetaminophen pain killer) has caffeine in it.”

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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UCU alum dances way to success with goal of helping vulnerable

August 31, 2022News, Students, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Molly Nantongo and Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, former dean of UCU’s School of Social Sciences and now Director for Postgraduate Studies, in August 2022. “You were my dean, and read my name,” Nantongo recalled of her connection to Kukunda at the 2015 UCU graduation day on the Mukono campus.

By Patty Huston-Holm
When I think of Molly Nantongo, I think of dancing. The tiny gap in her front teeth is one way I pick her out from hundreds of Ugandans I’ve met. Both of those things – dance and space evident when Nantongo smiles – have played an important role in her still unfolding achievement.

On a Saturday morning in August 2022, from a couch in my Uganda Christian University (UCU) Tech Park apartment, Nantongo explained the role. A 2015 UCU alum with a Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration, she sandwiched in time to talk just five days before her flight to California, USA. Our conversation was punctuated with laughter, hope from despair and bites of chocolate brownies.

Laughter
I met Nantongo in 2016. In addition to the meager salary that she got from performances with a troupe at Uganda’s Ndere Cultural Arts Center, she got some shillings from me for private dance lessons between shrubs and hanging laundry in the side yard of where I lived at UCU. Her young 20-something moves were a sharp contrast to those of her much older but eager-to-learn counterpart.

We laughed then and with Dr. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, then dean of the UCU School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies, enroute home to Mukono after watching Nantongo dance with Ndere Troupe one Sunday night in Kampala.

Molly Nantongo giving private African dance lesson to Author Patty Huston-Holm

Nantongo was piecing together earnings from three jobs: a professional dancer, an occasional private dance teacher and teaching assistant and tutor for undergraduate students in the university’s foundation courses. At that time and still, she had visited more of USA’s 50 states than me.

“I’ve been in about 95% of the United States,” she said. She got there before age 15.

Hope
In 2002, Nantongo was one of four children living with a single mother, a former Hutu in Rwanda, in the Kampala slum suburb of Kirombe. Missing school and food on the table were an accepted way of life that the then 10-year-old filled with “cracking jokes” and dancing. One such day, she and a girlfriend jumped gleefully onto a political campaign truck filled with music blaring from loud speakers. They laughed and danced, oblivious to those seeing them, before jumping off to make the 35-minute walk from home.

“Mom was bitter,” Nantongo said. “She caned me.”

Nantongo ran away and slept the night on some steps where a sex worker scooped her up, made her tea with milk and, despite the child protests that her mom would “beat me to death,” took her home.

There, she learned that she had been noticed on the truck.

“They were looking for the dancing girl with the gap in her teeth,” she said.

That organization, now known as Undugu Society of Kenya, helped Nantongo finish primary school. Another organization, Empower African Children, got her to the United States as a member of the Spirit of Uganda Various Artists – Spirit of Uganda: 2008 Tour Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic “Because I could dance,” Nantongo explained, adding, “Plus, I had a story to tell.”

Her moves were natural until age 15, when there was formalized instruction to be ready for travel, do shows internationally and raise money for vulnerable children like her. The 2008 USA tour with 11 girls and 11 boys was six months in buses and planes.

“The organization called me ‘Maureen’ and taught me how to jump and move my hands in different tribal dances,” she said. Her favorite dances are from northeastern Uganda, namely the Karamoja region, with a particular affection for war dances without drums.

More Hope
As Nantongo told of her journey, she shared that her siblings weren’t totally left behind as Empower African Children assisted with education. And she never took her support for granted. Working hard as she did in the years after getting her bachelor’s degree was both rewarding and giving back. She helped students understand health and wellness and world views in the UCU undergraduate foundation courses.

Alas, like for many, Covid was a hardship. A degree meant little without a place to teach, and dancing meant little without an audience to dance for. Nantongo started a passion fruit business to support herself and her mom, age 52, who struggles still from a stroke in 2017.

A year into being a street seller, a friend suggested she apply for a scholarship opportunity through the American Embassy. Without much optimism as one of 60 candidates for one slot, she participated in the two-week orientation – raising her hand and smiling a lot. She was chosen for a two-year master’s program in social welfare at the University of California in Berkley.

Once there, she applied for a $10,000 “Davis Project for Peace” grant – one designed to help Ugandan youth (ages 14-20) who are victims of Covid shutdown impacts, including pregnant-out-of-wedlock girls. The 15-week project, entitled Ntongo Skills4Peace, took place through mid-August 2022 with assistance for several thousand youth.

Molly Nantongo, UCU alum studying at the University of California, Berkley, holds a replica of a character from the Flat Stanley children’s book in 2016. This rendition from a Dayton, Ohio, class taught by Huston-Holm’s niece is part of an educational project designed to expose schoolchildren to different people and cultures.

“If we don’t do something now, these girls will end up in prostitution,” Nantongo, turning age 30 in October, said. “I’ve been using the grant here to focus on vocation skills like catering and tailoring, hair dressing and welding for these vulnerable.”

As Nantongo is wrapping up her final year in California in 2023, she has her sights on working for USAID, UNICEF. United Nations or World Bank, with her forever passion to help the poverty vulnerable as she once was.

“I want to start mentoring sessions for children who have been born and raised in the slums to give them hope and connect them to different resources that can help them attain their goals,” she said, smiling to show that gap in her teeth that she doesn’t intend to plug.

More Laughter
As for dancing?
On this Saturday in August, Nantongo pulled up a video on her phone. It shows three students in Berkeley, California. In it, she is dancing with a young man from Kenya and a woman from China. And all three are laughing.

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Nantongo Molly can be reached at Instagram nantongo.maureen |(LinkedIn: NANTONGO MOLLY | ;Twitter: @NantongoMolly | FaceBook: Nantongo Maureen.

UCU students finish two weeks of exams

August 29, 2022PictorialPatty Huston-Holm

By Israel Kisakye

Tests and security – Results in September

To further assure test honesty, exams are taken with pencil/pen on paper and personal electronic devices are not permitted within the assessment area. Prior to entering the test area, these students in Nkoyoyo were required to show cleared tuition payment via their passbooks or other verification of payment. Faculty and selected UCU alum serve as examination supervisors. Results of Trinity Semester exam marks will be posted in September.

Individual preparation (Social Sciences)

In the Ham Mukasa library, Rebbeca Nambuya, a year-one student in the Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration, School of Social Sciences, prepares for her Writing and Study Skills exam. Most UCU tests are three hours each with a combination of essay, short answer and multiple-choice questions. When asked if she felt well prepared for her end-of-term assessment, she replied “yes” and that she was “best prepared for the paper.”

Group study (Business)

UCU School of Business Procurement and Logistics students work together to help each other with knowledge and skills for two tests – Writing and Study Skills and Elements of Mathematics. These are among all qualified (fees paid) UCU students taking final exams of three-hours each in a two-week August period of the Trinity Semester on the Mukono campus.

Peer-to-peer support (Divinity & Theology)

Seated among the trees and monkeys outside UCU’s Principals Hall, these Bishop Tucker School of Divinity & Theology students, wrapping up their first year, provide each other support in studying for the end-of-term exams Aug. 8-18, 2022. Student Joshua Elimu leads the discussion. Written tests at UCU supplement practical assessments. Post-graduate assessments are mostly all on-line.

Exam stress relief (Business)

The UCU main campus affords various stress-relieving options for exam takers. Among these are sports such as demonstrated by Tracy Namugosa, a year-one student pursuing her Bachelors of Business Administration in the School of Business. She is shown here playing basketball to refresh her mind after the examination. Food, including such comfort items as ice cream sundaes, and a good-night’s rest are other anxiety-reducing strategies. Students at other UCU Campuses and Regional Colleges were likewise being assessed. Various Assistant Registrars from the Main campus have been dispatched to the other campuses to help with the examinations.

Tracy Namugosa, a year-one student pursuing the Bachelors of Business Administration, talks about how she plays basketball as a stress reliever before and after exams.

Examination completion – New term without freshmen

Kakuru Sam, who teaches UCU Information Technology, carries completed exams for marking. The next term, Advent Semester, begins Sept. 5. Due to Uganda’s pandemic shutdown that included education stoppage for up to two years, UCU has very few first-year students in this normal in-take period. Last year, and due to the education shutdown, university recruitment of secondary Senior Six students was nearly non-existent.

Prof. Wangusa hailed for contribution to literature in Uganda

August 26, 2022News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of EducationPatty Huston-Holm

Prof. Timothy Wangusa gives a speech during the celebration at Makerere University

By Kefa Senoga
A fountain of knowledge. A man gifted with words. A man who can weave words to create a magical appeal. These were some of the descriptions bestowed on Prof. Timothy Wangusa as the academia gathered on July 8, 2022, to celebrate a man who has contributed to Uganda through the spoken and written word.

The event, whose theme was Celebrating Wangusa@80, was convened by Uganda’s Makerere University as part of activities to celebrate 100 years of the university. It also coincided with a celebration of 80 years of the literary giant. Wangusa, a poet and novelist, was born on May 20, 1942.

UCU lecturer Timothy Wangusa has a birthday that coincides with Makerere University’s centenary. The university applauded his service for literature in the country and region during his 80th birthday celebration and the launch of his four books.

Wangusa also is a name known at Uganda Christian University (UCU), where he played a key role in establishing the department of languages and literature in the School of Education. A research fellow at UCU from 2003 to 2005, he was a research supervisor and was instrumental in developing UCU’s Master of Arts and PhD program in literature.

Prof. Timothy Wangusa receives gifts from Makerere University officials on July 8

At 27 years, Wangusa joined Makerere as an academic. Six years down the road, in 1975, he bagged a PhD in literature, becoming the first person to acquire the qualification at Makerere. Six years later, Wangusa became one of the few African professors at Makerere.

Wangusa jokingly refers to himself as the mean point between Makerere University with it’s 100 years of existence and Uganda with its 60 years of independence this year

“If you add 100 years of Makerere to 60 years of Uganda and divide by 2, you get me,” Wangusa explained to the July 8 audience.

Wangusa, who hails from Manafwa district in eastern Uganda, says throughout his teaching and writing career, he has emphasized the mutual importance of the spoken and the written word.

One of his inspirations for the “economy of words,” Wangusa narrates, is when, at the age of 10, he attended Sunday school in the eastern Uganda region of Bugisu, his native area. He says the preacher summed up his message in four words: “Always love one another.” To Wangusa, if anyone practiced the love for one another, they will have obeyed all the Ten Commandments.

As a teacher, he says he found it difficult to teach what he calls the most difficult doctrine to comprehend, the doctrine of the Trinity. He says, in his wisdom, he attempted to define God to his students, by coming up with the Trinity Tree, which he described in a 15-word poem:

The father in the root

The son in the shoot

The spirit in the fruit

Wangusa says that his discovery of the significance of the economy of words has informed his career and he testifies that he has been inspired by words which have guided his humanness of character and style of writing.

“My first novel – Upon This Mountain – could have been four times longer if I had been an expansionist, but I am a ‘compactionist’,” he said. The novel, which is 116 pages, is part of the literature syllabus for many secondary schools in Uganda.

The event at Makerere University also was used to launch Wangusa’s latest books – I Love You, You Beast, a book where he shares reflections on faith and literature from 1969 to 2009; Pathfinders’ Footprints in Modern African Poetry, a collection of poems; Lost in Wonder, his autobiography; and Niyanga Nilaliila, a translated autobiography in Lumasaaba, his native language.

Arthur Gakwandi, a novelist, short story writer, diplomat and Makerere lecturer, said Wangusa creates “cryptic communication, packed with meaning and difficult to comprehend.”

“He can find meaning in simple things,” Gakwandi said. “He can see the supernatural in ordinary things, a tree or object, which most people ignore. He then finds a word to communicate that momentary insight.”

Dr. Susan Kiguli, a poet and senior lecturer of literature at Makerere, said she always thought that great writers were only dead people. So, when she came across poems and novels by Wangusa in secondary school, she had no reason to believe that the professor was still alive.

“However, when I joined Makerere University, I was shocked to learn that Wangusa was one of our lecturers,” Kiguli said. “Being a man of small stature, he did not tower over us. But when he began to speak, he was larger than life. He is small, but carries a mountain of achievements.”

Peter Mugume, a lecturer at UCU, says he first met Wangusa as his undergraduate teacher at Makerere University. He says he later got the opportunity to work with Wangusa as a colleague lecturer in the department of literature at UCU.

Wangusa attended Nabumali High School from 1958 to 1961 for O’level, before joining King’s College, Budo for A’level from 1962 to 1963. From Budo, he joined Makerere University, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in English course, and then to the UK’s University of Leeds for a master’s degree in literature.

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African vegetable project helps local elderly

August 24, 2022Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, NewsPatty Huston-Holm

Community members prepare vegetables for packing.

By Vanessa Kyalimpa
Sarah Namutebi, 67, cannot imagine life before the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and UCU School of Medicine vegetable project. She couldn’t get a job because of her age and, without money, she couldn’t eat.

Now, as one of more than 100 elderly Mukono-area men and women engaged in the project, she’s getting food, and she has a job of documenting her health through nakati (also known as the African egg plant).

“For all the time I’ve stayed in this village I have suffered; there was a point where I could not even afford money to buy paraffin in order to light my lamp because I had no job where I could get money,” said Namutebi. “But ever since I started working with this research project, I got both some money to get paraffin and food to eat.”

The UCU project, “Exploring the potential of Indigenous vegetables for human health in Uganda,” started in February and is focused on studying the health benefits of African indigenous vegetables.

The research sample is 106 elderly participants. Their blood samples were taken before distribution of vegetables started for a comparison with their blood samples that will be taken at the end of the distribution in December.

The garden where the agricultural sciences faculty planted African indigenous vegetables, including the Ethiopian eggplant, which is also known as the bitter tomato or nakati.

Isooba David, the field technician of the project said that they distribute vegetables three time every week to every participant.

“In order to ensure that the participants eat the right number of vegetables, we measure the vegetables for the participant, pack it and later measure another pack of vegetables for the rest of the family,” he said. “This ensures that no other family member consumes some of the participants’ vegetables.”

More than an on-paper document, the study has changed a number of lives of the residents of Ntawo county in Mukono.

Nkudizane Mohammed, a graduate of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship, said that he gained employment because of the study and can afford to provide for himself without having to call his family back home. Working three days a week and earning sh26,000 ($6.90) daily, he helps with measuring the vegetables

See work of the vegetable project in action

“I have gained hands on experience,” Mohammed said. “I have learned how to understand, learn from the community and I’m working with and how to serve them.”

Nanyange Joan, a 36-year-old mother of three, resident of Ntawo and one of the local non-elderly employed with the project, said that the joy she has is unmeasurable because even without paying any fees, she together with her children have learned a lot because they were taught how to grow the vegetables, how to take care of them even in the harsh conditions. She plants the nakati, harvests it and prepares it for packaging.

“These vegetables need a lot of water to grow properly but even in this hot weather, they are flourishing,” Nanyange said. “This is because we were taught how to take care of them. Now, I don’t need to buy any more vegetables from the market because with these skills, I can now also grow my own vegetables in my small compound at home.”

Migambo Oboth, a participant and resident of Kigunga, Seeta, said that she was very happy with this research because her family was not eating vegetables in the time of higher prices.

“In this economy today, cost of feeding had become very expensive,” Oboth said. “I was no longer able to buy myself vegetables to add to my meal. I’m very appreciative to this team for always providing for us because now I can have a balanced diet.”

With the proliferation of excessive fried foods, junk food and genetically modified foods in the nutrition enterprise, the role of research becomes indispensable if indigenous organic food such as vegetables are to be preserved or enriched.

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UCU revolutionizes accommodations after Covid lockdown

August 22, 2022COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

Students register online to access accommodations at UCU

By Israel Kisakye
The Covid-19 pandemic left much of the world on its knees. For others, it was an elevation opportunity. One such area related to the latter is the registration of resident students at Uganda Christian University (UCU). The university rolled out an online registration method to alleviate physical contact as the institution tried to keep up with the standard operating procedures against the spread of coronavirus.

“Students who have paid their full accommodation fees and 45% of the tuition fees are able to register online,” the Rev. Simon Peter Ddamba, the UCU warden for Nsibambi Hall, said. The development, according to Ddamba, has eased the registration process for both the students and the university.

However, some students who did not want their names to go on record do not agree. They say the online system sometimes locks them out, keeping them from completing the registration.

When Uganda Partners put this challenge to Bridget Mugume, the Director of Student Affairs at UCU, she said some of the students facing obstacles are those who have not met the requirements for online registration – paying full boarding fees and 45% of the accommodation fees. (At the time of writing this story, our writer attempted to register online, and he confirmed that the system was working well.)

Mugume noted that the new system has enabled the capture of students’ data from the time they report for studies.

“All the information is in the database, where it can be easily be tracked,” she said.

In a promotion video recorded in 2021, Ddamba said the halls of residence are equipped with computer laboratories and internet hotspots to enable students do research.

The university also has reduced the number of residents in a room from four, before Covid-19, to two.

Racheal Birungi, a student of Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance, who resides in Sabiti Hall, says they are having the best time of their lives in the halls due to a reduction in the number of occupants in a room.

“We no longer share wardrobes; this has created comfort and enough space in the rooms,” Birungi says.

UCU has two halls of residence – Sabiti for female students and Nsibambi for male students. The reduction in the number of occupants per room means less students will be accommodated than before. However, to cover some of the gap that has been created, the university in February 2022 acquired the Ankrah Foundation premises. UCU is currently using the facility for a resource centre, as well as accommodation for students, among others.

The interior view of a lounge at the Ankrah Foundation hostel

The Kodwo and Maxine hostel at Ankrah Foundation has 142 rooms, with each room accommodating two students. At least 116 students are currently residing at the hostel, with the number expected to increase. Innocent Owora, the Kodwo and Maxine hostel Residential Assistant, said with two students occupying each room, incidences of theft will be greatly reduced.

Ddamba said to augment the security, plans are underway to install security cameras at the students’ halls of residence.

There also are plans to establish single-rooms at the Kodwo and Maxine hostel. Mugume said there are 100 single-rooms that are being renovated into accommodation facilities at the Ankrah Foundation.

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UCU holds first total in-person graduation in more than two years

August 20, 2022News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

Some graduates pose after the UCU ceremony on July 29

By Vanessa Kyalimpa
On January 7, 2020, Uganda Christian University (UCU) awarded semester scholarships to 10 students in appreciation of their outstanding academic performance. While handing out the Vice Chancellor’s Awards to the students, former Vice Chancellor John Senyonyi said the gesture was a motivation for excellence at the university.

Overall Best Student Mugagga Leslie Lubowa receives his award from UCU Bishop Alfred Olwa at the ceremony on July 29. Centre is Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi.

True to the intention of the award, two students did not take their feet off the pedal. Mugagga Leslie Lubowa and Hajara Nanziri – who were among the recipients of the scholarships in 2020 – on July 29, 2022, emerged top at UCU’s first part of the 23rd graduation.

Lubowa, a graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics with a First Class, walked home with three accolades. His Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.91 out of 5 earned him the accolade of Best Male Student, Best Science Student and Overall Best Student.

Another recipient of the 2020 award, Hajara Nanziri, emerged the Best Arts Student at the July graduation. Nanziri, who attained a First Class with a CGPA of 4.72, graduated with a Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

The top university administrators and chief guest during the graduation

The best overall female student at the graduation, Cynthia Birungi Muhumuza, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics, garnered a CGPA of 4.76. Birungi’s life has been a true defiance of the phrase “a jack of all trades and a master of none.” While at UCU, she did not just belong to the elite class of the Honors College. She was a leader at the college, as its Prime Minister. Before joining UCU, Birungi was the head girl at Seroma Christian School, where she attended secondary education. She was also the school’s basketball team captain.

Mugagga, Nanziri and Birungi were among the 55 students who attained academic excellence at the July graduation, garnering First Class and, thus, walked home with plaques.

Boreen Natamba, who got a First Class in Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance, was full of praises to her parents and lecturers. “Without them, I wouldn’t have graduated today,” Natamba said at the event, where 2106 students graduated. Of these, 55% were female.

“The endless discussions have finally paid off,” Natamba said. “I’m optimistic that with the skills and values we’ve acquired, the future is bright,”

The graduation ceremony, in a year when UCU marks 25 years of existence, was the institution’s first total in-person ceremony since the outbreak of Covid-19 more than two years ago. The previous two graduation ceremonies — on December 18, 2020, and October 22, 2021 — were virtual, in line with the Uganda Government’s policy of observing the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures.

The graduating students were also coming from some of UCU’s constituent colleges – Bishop Barham and Mbale University College; and the Arua Campus.

Unpacking the sendoff package of nuggets of wisdom for the graduates, chief guest Bishop Dr. Sheldon Mwesigwa emphasized the virtues of truthfulness, trustworthiness and timeliness as some of what will determine how much the graduates achieve in the field of work.

He said deception has become the modern way of life in a world where the dividing line between the truth and lies gets blurred each passing day. Mwesigwa, a former Chairperson of the UCU Council, therefore, urged the graduates to be “ambassadors of truth, and not messengers of lies and deception.”

The Chancellor of UCU, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, hinged his message to the graduates on integrity.

“You have a duty to uphold the flag of UCU, while remaining men and women of integrity, guided by humility and discipline, because it is through these attributes that you will remain useful to your families and community,” Kaziimba, who is the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Uganda, said.

He reminded the graduates that the virtues of diligence, servanthood and stewardship should be their guiding compass in life.

Students and guests who attended the graduation ceremony walked home with printed souvenir copies of Ebenezer, a graduation publication produced in collaboration with Uganda Partners, UCU Department of Communications and Public Relations and the Standard under the School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC).

The graduation ceremony was preceded by two events – a public lecture held on July 27 and the commissioning ceremony of the graduands. Doug Fountain, a former UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and External Relations, now living in Maryland, USA, gave the public lecture on the topic, “The Strongest Asset for Building Resilient Local Health Systems.”

At the commissioning service held in Nkoyoyo Hall on July 28, the guest preacher, Canon Edward Gaamuwa, urged the students to always wait on God because “He has the right timing for every person.”

“God has a definite plan and purpose for your life. He will go with you and be with you in every step of your life,” Gaamuwa said.

At the graduation, two students – Owen Alleluya of Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship and Alex Khauka, of Diploma in Information Technology – received their awards posthumously. Alleluya died after his final exams while Khauka and his father, Siraj Gidudu, died in a motor accident on their way to the graduation.

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UCU reboots to boost freshmen class in post-pandemic era

August 17, 2022Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, News, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

Jonathan Ahurira Kivuna, UCU Guild Vice President, interacts with learners at Kisowera Secondary School.

By Israel Kisakye
Uganda Christian University (UCU) is the best postsecondary choice in East Africa for its emphasis on character, academics, real-world relevancy and more.

Under the leadership of UCU Church Relations, that’s the message being delivered to Ugandan secondary schools with an outreach goal to touch roughly 2,000 of the 3,000 sites with an emphasis on those with Anglican Church connections. In the aftermath of Uganda’s Covid-related, education shutdown, it is hoped that visits to church-founded/church-sponsored secondary schools will sway students into applying for courses that the university offers when they complete Senior Six. Because of very few Senior Six graduates due to the shutdown, Ugandan university first-year classes in September 2022 are sparse.

One recent visit in the UCU post-pandemic reboot was to Kisowera Secondary School in Mukono district. The Rev. Richard Mulindwa, manager, UCU Church Relations, led the team to the school.

Dinah Grace Nakabuye (left), headmistress of Kisowera Secondary School, during the career guidance sessions at the school.

“One of our main objectives is to popularize UCU to schools under the Church,” the Church Relations manager said. Mulindwa, a former student of Kisowera Secondary School, where he studied A’level from 2007-2008, used the visit to encourage students to work hard if they want to succeed in their professional life. He added, “With education, you can be everything you want in life.”

During the interaction, a couple university students shared career nuggets of wisdom with the secondary school students.

Ecora Faith Akile, a student of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship, shared information on how agricultural production can be improved through innovations, especially to benefit commercial farmers.

“The days of using a hoe to dig have long ended,” she said. “Today, there are new innovations in farming that must be used to speed up production.”

The students and teachers of Kisowera told the UCU team that they were honored to have hosted the UCU team.

The Rev. Richard Mulindwa, manager, UCU Church Relations, discusses the value of UCU

Deborah Nantume, the school’s head girl, said the interaction inspired her to work hard so she can meet the academic requirements to pursue her desired course at UCU.

Dinah Grace Nakabuye, the school’s head teacher, explained that the visit had paved the way for them to know that they are much valued by UCU and also establish a relationship between the two institutions.

Mulindwa said that UCU will engage other secondary schools in a move to inspire more students to join them.

“We have been to other different church-founded schools, including Makerere College and Mengo Senior School in Kampala; many others will be reached,” Mulindwa said. The Church Relations Office is mandated to link the Province of the Church of Uganda to the university.

The move to drive sensitisation activities in secondary schools comes ahead of the annual UCU Sunday, where each and every congregation in the province receives a representative of UCU who is given time to speak about the university. Congregations are given time and opportunity for prayer and financial support to the university.

On the UCU Sunday, every Anglican church is expected to make financial collections to help in the running of the Church-founded institution. This year’s UCU Sunday will be celebrated on September 25.

Some of the collections that were made at last year’s UCU Sunday went towards the funding of the construction of an apartment section for the ordinands and the clergy who will be resident students at the university. UCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi said last year that sh400m (about $113,000) had already been secured for the project that is estimated to cost sh1.5b (about $424,000).

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Media experts urge UCU students to uphold journalism ethics

August 15, 2022News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Some UCU students who attended the dinner.

By Kefa Senoga
To earn respect, journalists should be able to produce believable, accurate and impactful stories. It is such stories, veteran journalist John Kakande explained, that will influence policy and bring the desired positive change in society.

“If you go to cover an event and, at the end of the day, you ask the spokesperson of the organisation to give you transport facilitation, they will not respect you again,” Kakande, a former editor of Uganda’s New Vision newspaper, told students of Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Journalism, Media and Communication. He said journalists who ask for facilitation from events organizers will be taken as “mercenaries for hire.”

Kakande, who retired in 2021 from 27 years with New Vision, made the remarks as chief guest at an annual media dinner organized by the students at a hotel in Kampala. Held under the theme “Media Ethics under Attack,” the dinner hosted students, UCU alumni, and media and public relations practitioners.

Tabu Butagira, the Managing Editor of Daily Monitor, a newspaper in Uganda, urged the students to look at ethics as their “personal value system.” He described the UCU students who have had their internship at the Daily Monitor as hardworking.

Kakande said a majority of those who had their internship at New Vision were retained as staff because “we found them well disciplined and respectful.”

John Kakande a veteran journalist who worked with New Vision and chief guest at UCU media dinner, speaks at event in Kampala.

Citing an example of emphasis on ethics and team work, the Dean of the School of JMC, Prof. Monica Chibita, referred to a video production of a news bulletin by the students that was shown at the dinner.

Veteran Ugandan journalist John Kakande speaks at dinner.

Chibita said the production was a result of team work between the students and the staff. She lauded John Semakula, who is the head of the undergraduate studies in the UCU School of JMC, for showing an “incredible commitment in leading the team of students that was able to exhibit their TV production.”

Chibita said UCU has been deliberate in focusing on hands-on training to enable their graduates be able to compete favorably in the job market.

“Unlike the previous years, we now even have first-year students actually reading bulletins; that means we are getting better in terms of practical training,” Chibita said at the dinner that was held after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The head of communications at power distributor Umeme, Peter Kaujju, encouraged students to be truthful because the profession they are pursuing comes with the responsibility of being the eyes of the public. He also encouraged students to be resilient and determined if they are to pursue good stories. He said his organisation, Umeme, is ready to offer internship placements for the students, as well as giving career guidance tips.

Hellen Mukiibi, an editor at New Vision, lauded the journalism students for the practical work they exhibited. The production was made under the auspices of the UCU Media Link Association. Mukiibi encouraged the students to develop skills in print, broadcast and online, noting that they are the new demands in a current newsroom.

“You also need to be ready, strong and tough. Prepare for everything, as a journalist. You should be knowledgeable about the subject you’re covering, which means you will need to do a lot of research,” Mukiibi urged the students.

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Art department holds historical exhibition

August 12, 2022Faculty of Engineering, Design & TechnologyPatty Huston-Holm

By Kefa Senoga
As Uganda Christian University (UCU) celebrates its silver jubilee this year, the Fine Art Department under the Faculty of Engineering, Design and Technology seeks to connect young people to antiquity through art.

Through a protracted project dubbed “Tudda Nyuma,” a Luganda expression meaning moving backward, the Department seeks to connect young exhibitors and art lovers with cultural heritage. This connection has added relevance in 2022 as UCU celebrates 25 years and Bishop Tucker Theological College (BTTC) marks 100.

The project is meant to portray key historical characters through imagery in different artistic ways like painting, embroidery, sculpture and photography.The name “Tudda Nyuma” is coined within a book called “Simuda Nyuma” a trilogy written in the 1930s by Hamu Mukasa, a chief from Buganda. Hamu Mukasa (1870-1956) has his name etched in the UCU Hall of Fame because he donated the massive land for the establishment of BTTC, now known as UCU where a library on the Mukono campus also bears his name.

One document in Mukasa's collections — One document in Mukasa’s collections

The late Mukasa was aware of the importance of storytelling and documentation. He wrote and had his life documented extensively, including in photographs.

Looking through Mukasa’s family collection consisting of photographs, books, manuscripts and documents and as part of her doctoral research on Ugandan photographs, curator Andrea Stultiens from Holland landed on the book “Simuda Nyuma.” With this book was a manuscript that had a catalogue of about 100 different images, which Mukasa had desired to illustrate in an uncompleted book.

Andrea says quite a lot of Mukasa’s material is available and has been digitalized by her and her partner Canon Griffin as part of a social media platform, “History in progress in Uganda,” which they started together in 2011.

Further engaging current people to work with historical facts – most especially those specific to Mukasa – is what led the Holland researcher to UCU and a collaboration through Dr. Eriya Nsubuga, a senior lecturer of Art at UCU.

“It was not much my choice to collaborate with UCU, but the strong connection to Mukasa came on my path, thanks to a friend, Dr. Eria Nsubuga who was already teaching at UCU by the time of the initiation of the project,” Andrea explains.

A quick video look of parts of the life of Hamu Mukasa

The first phase of this project was done between 2014 and 2016 with an exhibition at UCU documented in the Ham Mukasa library. Other exhibitions were held in Holland. UCU students who participated in this project found added excitement and meaning related to their art passions as the students assisted with the exhibitions in the various places.

Andrea says that with this project happening again, it will be a beneficial collaboration and exchange between external artists who will share their knowledge and working experience in the field with the art students at UCU. She adds that this will be a platform for students at UCU to appreciate the history of their institution.

She says “UCU students will contribute their imaginations to the narrative of the university’s past within the wider historiography of Uganda” and also hopes to learn a lot from both students and faculty on how to develop her research and visual arts practice.

Nathan Omiel, lecturer in the UCU art department

Nathan Omiel, a lecturer in the UCU art department, reveals that there have been ongoing workshops attended by art students at UCU ahead of the exhibition.

“We ran two workshops with students and that was in line with having them engage with real time practicing artists in the field and look at their methods, philosophies and the process of there work,” Omiel said. “We took on the artist Cannon Griffin Rumanzi for the first step up of workshop that happened in May, of recent in July we had artist Shilah Nakitende who works with barkcloth as a material, they came and ran these extensive workshops that are supposed to help students to sort of have an outside view of what art is.”

Omiel emphasizes that through these workshops, students are supposed to produce artwork that is supposed to be presented and curated in preparation for the exhibition. He adds that final work will be exhibited in September for the whole month around the same time as UCU celebrates 25 years.

Omiel noted that the project benefits the art department because they are dealing with experienced and practicing artists who works directly with Andrea at history in progress Uganda where they do photo archiving for the basis of retelling and reawakening history.

Regarding the project, the subject content is not necessarily limited to Ham Mukasa. The focus also can be on past officials of UCU like the ex-principals, ex-deputy vice chancellors ex- vice chancellors among others who have been significant influencers.

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Professors from Netherlands equip UCU with student-centered learning skills

August 10, 2022News, Students, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

Johan Henjik and Jaap Mannes make a presentation to the UCU School of Business.

By Israel Kisakye
Professors from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands, have shared teaching and learning skills with their counterparts and students of Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Business.

Johan Henjik and Jaap Mannes from the School of Business, Marketing and Finance at Hanze recently introduced the strategy of student-centered learning, which aims at developing the learners’ autonomy and independence. The student-centered learning approach offers students the chance to choose what they learn and how they learn it, thereby becoming decision-makers in the learning process.

“That approach can have prolific impact on the students’ knowledge and experience,” Jaap said. “There’s a big difference between theory and practice, so there is need to close the gap.”

Hanze University professors talk about student skill building

Jaap, who is Hanze University’s Director of Internationalization Committee at the School of Business Marketing and Finance, added that under the approach, companies and organisations learn from the students just as the students learn from them.

The Hanze representatives also emphasized the importance of students applying their classroom-acquired knowledge to create projects for themselves.

Vincent Kisenyi, Dean of the School of Business, gives remarks.

Johan said that he was interested in Hanze University students interacting with those of UCU. One benefit is cultural since many of the Netherlands students “don’t know much about Africa.”

The duos late June 2022 visit to UCU was courtesy of a partnership that the two universities signed in 2021 to support one another in research, teaching and learning. The agreement reinforces the value of both academic and cultural infusion into university teaching and learning. In mid-April 2022, UCU Vice Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi visited Hanze University, where he interacted with some UCU students who early this year traveled to the Dutch institution for a six-month exchange program related to the Diploma in International Marketing Management.

Both UCU staff and students were impressed by the approach of student-centered learning and believe it will help the students connect directly with the industry.

The Dean of the UCU Business School, Vincent Kisenyi, noted that the approach was more appropriate in the fight against unemployment among university graduates.

“I can’t wait for us to implement it and test its efficiency,” Kisenyi said.

Elsie Nsiyona, the Assoc. Dean of the School of Business, said she was excited about the new approach and could not wait to see the results.

Jonathan Kivuna, a year-three student pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration, said he was already excited about the student-centered approach.

“There is a lot of practice involved; I think it’s going to benefit students’ business projects,” Kivuna said.

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UCU alum documentary accentuates Kabale sorghum tragedy

August 8, 2022COVID-19, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Alex Taremwa speaks in May to participants of the Junior Achievement climate change innovation challenge where he was a judge

By Vanessa Kyalimpa
Chasing birds away each morning when they came to eat the grains on the ears of the ripe sorghum has been a typical role for any young boy in Kabale, a district in Western Uganda. Such is one memory of the Rev. Prof. Manuel Muranga, a Kabale-born lecturer at the Institute of Language Studies, Kabale University.

“It was our culture,” Rev. Muranga recalls of people known as Bakiga. “We called it ‘okubinga enyonyi,’ meaning keeping the birds away, which wasn’t a nice exercise because it required you to be up very early in the morning.”

At that, Muranga adds, the unwelcomed boyhood task increased his awareness of the importance of sorghum. It was, he said “our identity.”

Alex Taremwa, Uganda Christian University alum

In Kabale, the sorghum seed used for human cereal and for pasture animals, has been the number one crop grown by over 95% of households. It has not only been food for the community, but also a crucial ingredient for brewing “enturire,” a local, delicacy drink made from sorghum and honey and traditionally given to visitors as a sign of hospitality.

This once Kabale delicacy, along with its economic support, is diminishing.

Climate change – namely temperature and water excess or depletion patterns – is to blame, according to Alex Taremwa, a digital journalist and alum of Uganda Christian University (UCU). Together with Shemei Agabo, a Kampala-based multi-media storyteller, Taremwa helped produce a documentary entitled “Enturire” that gives this Uganda agriculture example of what happens to food and people when humans don’t take care of the environment. In short, abuse of carbon (i.e., fuel) pollutes the earth.

The film, possible because of a grant from the Embassy of France, reminds the viewer that while the least industrialized nations like Uganda emit the least carbon, they continue to be impacted the most by climate crisis. In the case of sorghum, it is the world’s fifth most important cereal after wheat, Africa’s second most important cereal crop after maize, and the third most important staple cereal food crop in Uganda and number one in Kabale District.

The documentary accentuates the impact on thousands with a focus on the lives of Mrs. Million Oworinawe, a Kabale sorghum farmer, and Mrs. Alice Asiimwe, a businesswoman. Both have made enturire their livelihood for over 30 years but are coming to the frightening reality that they soon will be unemployed because the harsh climate is rapidly destroying the sorghum quality.

Deus Bagambana Baguma, principal agricultural officer, Kabale, talks about the crop obstacles resulting from rain uncertainty

“Growing up in a family of farmers made me see how profitable sorghum was,” Milion Orinawe recalls. “I used to plant sorghum on a quarter an acre of land and get about 300 kgs (661 pounds) of sorghum when I harvested. The harvest was very bountiful.”

In 2022, Orinawe gets as little as 50kgs (110 pounds) from her garden. She has since moved into Irish potato and maize growing as alternatives.

“More than 90% of the households in Kabale District are finding it harder to grow sorghum – the most grown cereal in Kigezi Sub-region,” Taremwa, a co-founder of Last Drop Africa, a climate change activism not-for-profit, notes in an article that appeared in the Daily Monitor newspaper. “As a result, sorghum production has nosedived.”

This plummet affects incomes of hundreds of farmers, especially women, according to the 2022 Kabale District’s Third Development Plan (2020-2025).

The documentary shows that while the developing nations such as Uganda emit the least carbon, they continue to suffer the biggest effects of the climate change crisis.

Kabale, which was known for chilly weather is now suffering from, “unpredictable rains and rising temperatures,” as captured in the opening statements of the nearly 18-minute documentary.

“In the old times, a farmer would know that by a specific month on a certain day, rains would come, so they would do the early planting,” says Deus Bagambana Baguma, a principal agricultural officer in Kabale. “But now, they have to wait for the rains to first come in order for them to plant and it could stop after a few days. This really affects how the crops come up and how many farmers grow the crop. In fact, now farmers have resorted to doing other things.”

Dr. Richard Edema, director for Makerere University Regional Centre for Crop Improvement (MARCCI), notes that the Kabale hills are warming up, a happening that has reduced the rain and increased the incidences of pests and diseases.

“There are a variety of things that are alleged to be causing this but you cannot deny the change in weather in these places,” Dr. Edema said. “The weathers of Kabale that used to suit the growing of these crops have changed which also affects the performance of these crops.”

While food scientists and agronomists scratch their heads for solutions, such media as Taremwa’s are helpful to create awareness about the dangers of climate change that touch the daily life elements, such as a drink inside a cup.

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UCU embarks on building modern infrastructure, beautification

August 3, 2022UCU School of Business, UCU School of Education, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

A worker at the Bishop Tucker main building.

By Kefa Senoga
Aesthetics is a core design principle. Visually, aesthetics includes factors such as balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and weight. Emotionally, such optics impact attitude that, as in the case of a university, influences work and learning.

Since Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi took over as Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2020, he has had his eyes set on beautification and improvements. In May 2022, Mushengyezi accelerated the vision to improve both individual safety and sense of well being with a beatification campaign focused on the main campus.

Walkways, parking and painting are being realized at the onset with on-site banking facilities, a first-ever food court and more to come.

Brief look at new touches to a UCU parking area, Bishop Tucker, Nkoyoyo

Eng. David Kivumbi, UCU’s Director of Facilities and Capital projects, has a ringside seat to the activity. As of early August 2022, renovations and additions completed and planned at the Mukono site include:

Nkoyoyo Hall area has a new look with an added balance of greenery and pavement.
Adjacent to the Hall, the building where the worship band holds practices has been refurbished along with the nearby toilets.
The Bishop Tucker building (Principal’s hall) and its executive toilets have been refurbished with paint, updated fixtures and lighting.
Just below Tucker, renovations are planned on a complex that has housed nursing administration, social work and the Standard newspaper.
The building housing the offices of the Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships has been refurbished.
The building that houses the UCU Department of Communication and Public Relations and the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration has had the roof cleaned and building painted, retrofitted, and furnished.
The former Foundations office block near the library is being converted for use by the Computing and Technology department.
Bishop Tucker Road (the murram road below the university) up to Ankrah Road has been improved in order to access the other side of the university premises where the new male halls of residence and the School of Business are being located.
There are plans to work on broken fences and painting to improve the main gate and give a face lift to the eastern side of the campus that includes the Mackay block where the School of Education is located.
At some point, the offices of the Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellors will be re-located together in a new building below the Ham Mukasa library.

“Landscaping is being carried out in preparation for future developments,” Kivumbi said. “We are going to landscape to prepare space for architectural work to begin for the Senate building which is supposed to house offices of all the senior administrators.”

He noted that as renovations, refurbishments and constructions are taking place at the university, lighting of the university campus is being explored.

Workers clean and fix the roof at the former Foundations block that is going to be converted into ICT department offices.

“Right now, we are working on improving the dark spots at night, to put lights in the parking yards, compounds, at the archives building and at the Vice Chancellor’s residence,” Kivumbi said. “We are targeting October, when UCU celebrates 25 years, to finish most of these works.”

UCU ‘s vision statement of becoming a Centre of Excellence in the Heart of Africa is added inspiration for aesthetic change.

At the Kampala campus, the University is refurbishing its new premises and is also constructing a new storied building to act as the main classroom block. The ground breaking for the $703,340 (sh2.5bn) Kampala campus block was done early this year. UCU acquired the land for the Kampala campus in June 2021.

“We are about to reach the topmost floor of the new block and we will begin with the roofing,” Kivumbi said of the three-level building with a basement.

Joseph Kiva, a lecturer at the School of Journalism, Media and Communication who was a student at UCU from 2007 to 2010, muses that his peers who left 12 years ago and never returned would be amazed by the new UCU appearance.

“During our time of study at UCU, most roads were murram (clay like) in the campus and most of the infrastructure that has been set up like the Noll building, main library, school of journalism offices, basketball court, volleyball courts were not there,” he said. “In fact, during that time we used the current small gate as the main gate.”

Opolot Cuthbert a third-year law student at the UCU says that one of the key things he has observed from the management and administrations that lead UCU, is that they understand the value of infrastructure in a high learning institution. “These kinds of developments create a conducive environment for studying and other student related activities,” he said.

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Equipment informs future doctors about evidence-based patient care

August 1, 2022COVID-19, News, Students, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

UCU School of Medicine students Alituha Constance, Melodie Munyakai, and Kasule Steven engage in microscopic learning. — UCU School of Medicine students Alituha Constance, Melodie Munyakazi, and Kasule Steven engage in microscopic learning.

Story By Patty Huston-Holm with Photos and Podcast by Vanessa Kyalimpa
Within five minutes of the first time that Vanessa Kyalimpa and I met Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, he was casually lifting and touching cleaned bones extracted from donated cadavers. Vanessa, a student in the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Journalism, Media and Communication, captured photographs while I took notes.

I wondered why this rubber-gloved dean for the UCU School of Medicine (SoM) was so attentive to the skeletal part of the human body.

SoM Dean, Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, uses human body parts, including this brain, as part of his teaching

Later, I got my answer. I discovered Dr. Tumusiime’s two bone-related pieces of research – both within the last year and concentrated on femur (thigh) bones of East African men. In brief and not doing justice to the studies by the esteemed doctor, senior lecturer and dean, I summarized his research on the 333 African men were about:

External opening of femur bones to make a correlation between whether the opening that enables blood flow necessary for healing after surgery is inherited or acquired (International Journal of Anatomy and Research, India); and
Size and shape of femur bones as this relates to assessing fracture risk and stability of hip joints and design of implants for hip replacement (Austin, Texas, Journal of Anatomy).

Whether serving in his role as researcher, teacher or practicing doctor, Dr. Tumusiime epitomizes excellence in the field of medicine. His passion for lifelong learning and elevating UCU SoM student knowledge and skill were clear on April 5, 2022, as he showed us around with a focus on how equipment informs evidence-based patient care. Much of what we saw in three different buildings, including where the UCU School of Dentistry (SoD) is housed, was donated a year ago by MedShare and Midmark through the non-profit Uganda Partners organization.

dical training, including the value of Christian faith integration.

Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, Dean, UCU School of Medicine, gives a historical, current and future perspective of medical training, including the value of Christian faith integration.

“Biomedical equipment promotes holistic and evidence-based patient care,” Dr. Tumusiime said. “While we teach that patient history and physical exams contribute over 80% to an accurate diagnostic, the equipment donated through the United States in 2021 is extremely valuable in shaping our future doctors into evidence-based, health care practitioners.”

Year two SoM student, Nalujja Chloe Immuaculate, engages in studies in the Gross Anatomy lab

The donated equipment and consumables contributed to the accreditation and licensure of UCU’s SoM and SoD by the Ugandan regulators, as well as the continuity of teaching and learning during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The equipment boosted the schools’ ability to be accredited by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education. Such tools supplement learning in the UCU biomedical laboratories in gross anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, histology and microbiology and immunology.

The UCU equipment for the SoM, mostly donated in the past two years, and brief descriptions include:

Microscopes (providing the “Gold standard” for tissue diagnosis) – Magnify what the human eye can’t see, such as cells indicating diseases, such as sickle cell
Centrifuge – Separate, purify and isolate cells, proteins and viruses for further observation
Vortex mixer – Combine vials of liquid to study enzymes and DNA
Incubator – Maintain temperature, humidity and gas content to grow or maintain cells
Bunsen burner – Used for heating samples and sterilization
Safety cabinets – Protect researchers and others from potentially infectious materials
Medical waste bins – Add safety from biomedical waste and sharp instruments
Medical refrigerator and freezer – Protect and extend shelf life of bio-specimens, reagents, drugs and vaccines
Protective gear (aprons, face masks, face shields, goggles, gloves) – Support safety in teaching and learning, research and patient care
Assorted clinical diagnostic equipment – Promote the quality of patient diagnosis and research

The SoM Dean expressed appreciation for the donations that, despite a year of Covid-related distance learning, have boosted the holistic, evidence-based capabilities of UCU’s 230 students in the SoM and SoD as each completes a five-year program.

“There are many examples of how technology equips us to improve Uganda’s health care,” Dr. Tumusiime said. “For instance, in dealing with malnutrition among children, we are able to help by analyzing blood samples to guide nutritional interventions and monitor progress. In all age groups, we screen and diagnose non-communicable diseases like sickle cell anaemia, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and metabolic disorders that are currently on the rise in Africa.”

Dr. Tumusiime said that the need for more laboratory tools is ongoing, and singled out the equipment that is urgently needed to enhance teaching and learning, research and community service. In 2022, these necessities and their roles are:

Biological teaching microscope – Enables the instructor to demonstrate to the learners in real time
Hematology analyzers – Allow study of blood disorders and expanded understanding of human immune response
Chemistry analyzers – Enable testing of 100 different components, including urine for detection of various infections, kidney disease and diabetes
Blood gas/electrolyte analyzer – Measure blood sample parameters, such as oxygen concentration

“I appreciate that in a resource-limited setting, some of these equipment may not be readily available,” he said. “But it’s critical to the profession that they know they exist and know how to use them.”

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Norway partnership drives development at UCU

July 28, 2022UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Staff from the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication pose with staff at the NLA University College and others under the NORHED project in Norway.

By Geoffrey Ssenoga
When Hamu Mukasa, the Buganda County chief for Kyaggwe, offered land to build the Bishop Tucker Theological College (BTTC) more than 100 years ago, he set in motion a functional partnership for growing and sustaining a private university. That partnership model has successfully accounted for many landmarks in the development of Uganda Christian University, which metamorphosed from BTTC 25 years ago.

One of the partnerships is the recent collaboration between the Norwegian NLA University and UCU’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC), which has transformed journalism and communication training in Uganda.

In 2013, UCU signed a $1.3 million partnership agreement with Norway’s NLA University under the Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED), which offered post-doctoral research studies support, leading to the full professorship of the dean in charge of the School of JMC.

The program also led to the training of five members of the faculty to acquire a PhD, as well as sponsoring graduates for master’s studies and equipping an audio-visual motion picture studio. The graduates have since joined the school as members of the faculty.

UCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi (left) meeting with the NLA University Rector, Prof. Sigbjørn Sodal, recently, in Norway

As a result of the partnership, the school has undergone a complete revolution, acquiring 10 Handycam video cameras and more than 15 DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras, with their accessories, such as tripods and a comprehensive journalism and communication book bank.

Now, UCU has signed NORHED two, which is bringing more equipment support and faculty development through training to attain doctoral degrees up to 2026.

While partnerships fit with the Christian way of loving and helping one another, they are nevertheless difficult to start and get off the ground without a personal connection. Hamu Mukasa had a personal relationship with Bishop Alfred Tucker, the founder of BTCC, and the Anglican church in Uganda. That, perhaps, explains his generous land donation.

Generations later, partnerships continue to sprout from personal relationships. Terje Skjerdal, the co-ordinator of the NORHED project, reveals that NLA and UCU’s relationship began at a personal level in the United States, where he had gone to study. It there that he met the now Dean of School of Journalism, Media and Communication, Monica Chibita, who was then teaching Development Studies at the university where Skjerdal was. The two later met at conferences on the African continent and promised “to work on something together.”

Another colleague, Assoc. Prof. Carol Azungi, was brought into the loop when she met Terje at the University of Oslo in Norway and responded eagerly to his beckoning when the opportunity to teach in the NORHED program for Uganda Christian University availed itself. Azungi had been an undergraduate student under Chibita’s instruction at Makerere University.

As the second phase of the NORHED program begins, other partnerships could sprout out of the venture.

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